StoryTemplate

A minimal template for writing novels with Typst.

Bootstrap (create your own novel repo)

Recommended one-command project creation (creates a new folder + fresh Git repo):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anitasv/StoryTemplate/main/scripts/bootstrap.sh | bash

On macOS, the bootstrap script will also offer to install missing prerequisites (Homebrew, Typst, Pandoc). It will skip anything that’s already installed.

Then:

cd YourProjectFolder
make pdf

Prerequisites

You’ll need the following tools installed locally:

1. Typst (required) — compiles the .typ sources to PDF/HTML.

• Website: https://typst.app/
• Install instructions: https://github.com/typst/typst#installation

2. Pandoc (required for EPUB + ODT) — converts the generated HTML into EPUB, and (optionally) chapter ODT files.

• Website: https://pandoc.org/
• Install instructions: https://pandoc.org/installing.html

3. make (recommended) — runs the build recipes in the included Makefile.

• Usually preinstalled on macOS/Linux.
• On Windows, consider using WSL.

Quick start

What to edit first

• chapters/ — your manuscript content (start with chapters/chapter1.typ)
• story.typ — chapter ordering (includes chapters in order)
• print.typ — print/PDF entrypoint (cover + title page + includes story.typ)
• ebook.typ — ebook/HTML entrypoint (includes story.typ)

Build a PDF:

make pdf

Note: the bootstrap script runs ./scripts/template-init.sh and stamps your title/author/language/rights into styles/metadata.yaml, print.typ, and the Makefile output name.

Initialize / update the template (template-init.sh)

Run this any time you want to change the title/author/language/rights across outputs.

Interactive usage

From the repo root:

./scripts/template-init.sh

You’ll be prompted for:

• Title
• Author
• Language (BCP-47 tag like en or en-US)
• Rights

Non-interactive usage

./scripts/template-init.sh \
  --title "My Awesome Novel" \
  --author "My Pen Name" \
  --language en \
  --rights "All rights reserved"

Show current values

./scripts/template-init.sh --show

Build

If you have typst installed, you can build outputs via the provided Makefile.

All build outputs go into output/.

Common make commands

Build everything (PDF + HTML + EPUB):

make

Build PDF (print layout):

make pdf

Build HTML (ebook layout, used as the source for EPUB):

make html

Build EPUB (requires pandoc):

make epub

Build chapter ODT files (one .odt per chapters/*.typ, requires pandoc):

make odt

Print word count across all chapters/*.typ:

make wc

Clean generated files:

make clean
make clean-odt

Build outputs directly

You can also build individual files directly (these are defined in the Makefile):

make print.pdf

Overriding the Typst binary

If typst isn’t on your PATH, you can override it:

make pdf TYPST=/path/to/typst

Writing / editing chapters

Where the manuscript lives

• Chapters: add/edit files in chapters/ (e.g. chapters/chapter2.typ).
• Chapter list / ordering: story.typ is the “table of contents” for Typst. It #includes chapter files in the order they should appear.
• Print entrypoint: print.typ (cover + title page + includes story.typ).
• Ebook entrypoint: ebook.typ (currently just includes story.typ).

Typical workflow for adding a new chapter

1. Create a new file, e.g. chapters/chapter2.typ.
2. Add it to story.typ:

// Include chapters
#include "chapters/chapter1.typ"
#include "chapters/chapter2.typ"

3. Rebuild:

make pdf

Metadata, cover image, and styles

• Book metadata: styles/metadata.yaml (used by Pandoc for EPUB metadata)
• Title page variables: print.typ (#let book_title = ..., #let book_author = ...)
• Cover image: images/cover.png
• EPUB CSS: styles/epub.css

Other documentation

Additional project docs live in docs/:

• docs/WRITING_INSTRUCTIONS.md — writing style instructions, mainly intended for LLMs.
• docs/OUTLINE.md — story outline notes
• docs/CHARACTERS.md — character notes